A Present for the Little Bunny
Early one morning, a little bunny woke up and poked his head out of his rabbit hole. It was a
wonderful sunny day. He could hear the songs of birds chirping and the wind rustling in the trees.
“I should find something special to do on this wonderful day,” the bunny thought.
So he crawled out of his rabbit hole and looked around. Not finding anything that interested him, the bunny was just about to go back inside when he noticed a beautiful box with a big red ribbon on it.
There was a card on top: “For Little Bunny,” he read. “Yippee!” he cheered. “But my birthday was a few months ago. This means that someone gave me a present for no reason at all!”
The little bunny was very excited. He untied the red ribbon and opened the box. There were lots of interesting things inside.
“Thank you!” said the bunny to whomever had given him the gift, since he was used to saying “thank you” whenever he received a present.
But this time he didn’t know where the present had come from or whom to thank, which made the bunny think about who the giver might be. He decided he should find this generous friend so he could thank him or her in person.
“This is what I will do today!” the little bunny thought.
He did not even finish looking through the box. He had a quick breakfast and set out at once on his search. The little bunny hadn’t gone very far when he saw a hedgehog.
“Hi, Hedgehog!” said the little bunny cheerfully.
“Hello,” replied the hedgehog sadly.
“Why are you so sad?” asked the little bunny.
“I’ve found a lot of mushrooms, but I don’t have enough needles to pin them down and carry them home,” the hedgehog answered.
“Don’t be sad, Hedgehog. Tell me, do you know who sent me a present?”
“No, I don’t know,” replied the hedgehog.
“Oh well, goodbye then — and don’t be sad,” the bunny said hastily and rushed off. He was determined to find the kind soul that had given him a present.
He was hopping along a trail when just ahead of him he saw a monkey. She was holding onto a bicycle and looking at the wheel.
“Hi, Monkey! What are you doing?” the little bunny asked.
“What do you think I am doing?” the monkey replied. “Do you see this bike?”
“Yes, I see the bike,” the little bunny said. “Why are you looking at the wheel?”
“Because the tire is flat,” the monkey replied angrily. “What should I do? How will I finish my bike ride?” she asked looking up at the bunny.
“Hmm, can’t help you there,” the little bunny said looking at the flat tire. “Hey, would you happen to know who sent me a present?”
“No, I don’t. Ask the owl. She knows everything!” the monkey replied, looking back at the tire again.
As soon as the bunny heard this, he hopped away to find the owl.
“Hi, Owl!” he shouted happily to the owl sleeping high up in a tree.
“Who is that?” the owl replied. “I can’t see a thing!”
“It’s me, the little bunny!”
“Oh, little bunny, I can’t see you because the bright sun is blinding me. If you want me to see you, come back tonight.”
“You don’t need to see me” the bunny said. “I just need you to tell me who gave me a present. The monkey said that you would know.”
“I have no idea who gave you a present! There are a lot of other things that I do know but since you have no other questions, I am going back to sleep.”
The little bunny returned home sadly. Then he remembered that he had not finished looking at all the things in the box. He decided to see what else was inside.
When he opened the box, he found a basket, a pump, and a pair of sunglasses.
“Wow! These things would help the Hedgehog, the Monkey, and the Owl!” exclaimed the bunny. “I don’t need them as much as they do. I will give them my presents since they need them more!”
The bunny picked up the box and ran off to help his friends.
“Hedgehog, look! I brought you a basket! Now you can carry home all the mushrooms that
you found,” the bunny shouted with joy, helping the hedgehog put all of the mushrooms in the basket.
“Thank you!” the hedgehog cried happily, and he set out for home with a basket full of mushrooms.
The little bunny hopped along quickly to help the monkey.Not much had changed while he was away. The monkey was still sitting at the side of the trail, looking at the flat tire on her bike.
“Monkey, here‘s a pump. Now you can fill up your wheel with air and finish your bike ride,”
said the little bunny.
“That’s wonderful! Thank you!” the monkey said with joy, and began pumping up the wheel.
Now the little bunny had just one more present left, so he went to see the owl.
“Owl! Owl!” the little bunny called.
“Who is that?” asked the owl.
“It’s me, the little bunny!”
“Little bunny, you’re back. Is everything all right?”
“Yes, everything is great! I brought you sunglasses so that you can see me and everything else around you,” the bunny replied happily and placed the glasses on the owl’s nose.
“Thank you!” the owl said. “Now I can see you!”
“You know, Owl, I never did find out who gave me that box. But whoever it was must be
really wonderful to give presents without expecting a thank you. I really want to be kind and good just like this giver. This is why I thought that others should benefit from my presents.”
The little bunny bounced up and down with joy. “I will definitely find this great friend!” he said with a determined look on his face. And with these words, the little bunny hopped home with an empty box — happier than ever!
Illustrations: Irina Bondarenko